Despite how importantexercise is, experts agree that most children do not get enough exercisedaily. Many children spend too much time watching television, playing video games, or engaging in other sedentary (nonactive) activities.

More than one-third of the children in America are overweight. These children face a greater risk of health problems in the future, including heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and certain types of cancer.

Studies by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend that children should be getting at least 30 to 60 minutes of dailyexercise. Exactly what type of activity children do to get exercise isn't as important as making sure that they're getting exercise on a regular basis.

So, what is your favorite way to exercise? Do you enjoy a brisk walk around your neighborhood? Or is running more your style? Is kick ball up your alley? Or maybe jumping jacks and push-ups are more your speed? Regardless of the activity, you'll know you're getting good exercise when your heart starts beating a bit faster and your lungs start breathing faster as well.

Exercise is often one of those things that's easy to put off. It sometimes takes a back seat to other deadlines and activities. Doctors will tell you, though, that — just like eating right — you need to create good exercise habits when you're young.

The habits you create as a child will usually carry over into your adult life, so get active now and it'll be easier to keep it up in the future!

Wonder Words (18)

Did you get it?

Wonder What's Next?

Tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day may tie your fingers in knots!

Try It Out

Are you ready to get moving? Grab a friend or family member to help you explore the following activities:

What's your favorite way to exercise? How do your friends and family like to exercise? Do you ever exercise together as part of a group? Make a list of all the possible ways you can exercise — both alone and as part of a group. Divide your list into two categories: your favorite ways to exercise and those that don't interest you as much. Start making plans to exercise with friends and family members today!

Experts believe that one of the key ways to start exercising more is to make it fun. Exercise doesn't have to be "work," like running on a treadmill or lifting weights. There are plenty of ways to be physically active that you will enjoy and actually look forward to. Here are some tips you can use to get more physically active on a daily basis: + Take your dog for a walk or go for a walk together as a family. + Do chores that involve physical activity, such as mowing the lawn or raking leaves. + Plan fun family activities that involve exercise, like hiking, swimming, or bowling. + Walk or ride your bike wherever you can. + Play sports! Whether it's soccer, tennis, football, basketball, wrestling, volleyball, or swimming, team sports give you a chance to get plenty of exercise.

If you want some more great ideas for ways to exercise, click through to read about 50 ways for kids to exercise indoors or out! Choose a new activity that you've never tried before. You never know when you might discover a new way to exercise that will keep you motivated.

Ellie

Wonderopolis

Oct 16, 2012

WOW, that sounds like a GREAT way to exercise, Ellie! We bet you have all five positions of ballet memorized by now! We think it's fun to dance your heart out... we hope you have a super day! "5..6..7..8!" :)

Hey Wonderopolis! Great, great information. You know people really start exercising as adults, but kids need to exercise as well. It's a great way to stay healthy. I started really exercising as I got older. It's fun, it's hard, but the benefits are well worth it. Thanks Wonderopolis!!

Wonderopolis

Aug 20, 2012

Woohoo, we love your excitement for exercising, Jeff! Thanks for so much encouragement to maintain a healthy lifestyle, no matter how old you are! We love the challenge and reward of getting our heart rate up, too! Have a WONDER-filled day! :)

exersize

Wonderopolis

Jul 31, 2012

Thanks for sharing your comment, Wonder Friend! Everyone has different things they enjoy and we think it's GREAT that you are Wondering about different ways to exercise! Have you checked out this past wonder about another type of FUN and energetic exercise?
Wonder #114-- What is Flamenco Dancing? http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-flamenco-dancing/ :)

BECKY

Jul 30, 2012

My favourite way to exercise is just to slip on some running shoes get my iPod and just start running to the music. I also enjoy playing many sports like netball and playing volleyball with my sisters!!:)

Wonderopolis

Jul 30, 2012

What a GREAT way to get the lead out, Becky! Exercising with music is just about as good as it gets! How WONDERful that you and your sisters stay healthy with a FUN sports activity! Thanks for sharing your AWESOME comment! :)

My favorite way to exercise is doing swimming
and volleyball. I do swim team (which I race in events). I once got first place on one one of my races. I do freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and relays.
I did volley ball camp this summer. I am also going to do another volleyball camp this summer
also. What is your favorite way to exercise?
P.S. This wonder ROCKS! :-) :-)

Wonderopolis

Jun 24, 2012

Hi, Julie! We really liked hearing all the AWESOME ways you compete in swimming and also that you went to volleyball camp this summer! That's GREAT! We have LOTS of favorite ways to exercise. We like taking hikes and WONDERing about the world around us and we like playing team sports. We also like riding bikes, swimming...ALL kinds of exercise! :-)

noah kinney

Wonderopolis

Kerrick Elementary School

Oct 20, 2011

We learned a lot today! The video was very good and gave us lots of good ideas for how to exercise. We liked the idea of riding a bike to a video game! Some of our favorite exercises are yoga, the funky fish, running, playing outside, riding bicycles, playing sports, dancing, and much more.
We are about to start a daily exercise program in our own classroom that is part of a YMCA curriculum. It will teach us about nutrition and exercise. We are excited to learn about them and keep making connections to the Healthy Wonders! Thanks for another great wonder!! :)

Wonderopolis

Oct 20, 2011

You will have to share some of the HEALTHY habits you learn from your classroom YMCA curriculum, Kerrick Elementary School! We're sure our other Wonder Friends would also like to know more about nutrition and exercise! Thank you for teaching us something new again today! We had never heard of the "funky fish" dance! It sure looks like a FUN exercise to do with friends and classmates! :-)

AnneTEAM

Oct 19, 2011

Actually I really like to eat fruits, veggies and stay active. Although I spend maybe a little to much time on the TV and computer, but since school has started, I find myself doing homework more!!! But I don't spend all my time on the electronics! I like to roller blade, ride my bike, play tennis, shoot hoops, jump rope, hula hoop, play kick-the-can and more. My favorite fruits are apples, bananas, oranges and more. My favorite veggies are carrots, green beans, peas, and corn. I think it's very important to get active so you don't get overweight or get sick. It's not worth getting sick when you can go on a family bike ride (something I like to do)! How do doctors and scientists figure so many of these things out? I think Wonderopolis is an awesome place to learn and it's a great resource! I learn so many things when I visit! Every Wonder is so great and I learn from every one!!!!

Wonderopolis

Oct 20, 2011

Your comment makes us VERY happy, Anne! It's great for us to learn all the awesome ways you like to exercise and the WONDERful fruits and vegetables you like to eat to keep your body strong and healthy! Doctors and scientists study people and health quite a bit. They keep really good notes and perform lots of tests that help them determine the best ways for people to stay healthy! :-)

avaeastphila

Oct 19, 2011

Hi, everybody. I'm in east difonzo kindergarten. I love phila let's go phila!! Woo, hoo red and black!! Let's go Quakers, here we go!! My fave exercise is to ride my scooter!! I like my scooter becauseI get to see things in the world. I also like to ride my scooter because I get to grow my muscles by steering my scooter!! I love my scooter because it's fun!!
Thanks,
Wonderopolis

Wonderopolis

juliaeastphila

Oct 19, 2011

Hi! I love Wonderopolis!! It's an awesome site! I am in east jarvis second grade!!! My fave exercise is to walk my dog in nice weather. His name is Jack. Hes a great boy!! I love him very much!! He's my Buddy Bubba Boy.
Thanks,
Wonderopolis

courtney

Wonderopolis

Oct 20, 2011

Hi, Courtney! Thanks so much for sharing your favorite way to exercise! We haven't found out what a fear of unicorns is called yet. We do know that a fear of horses is called equinophobia or hipophobia, but we don't know if there is a word for the fear of horns or fear of horned animals to combine those words with to make a new word that means the fear of unicorns. We'll keep WONDERing about this if you will, too, OK? :-)

GEM

Wonderopolis

Oct 19, 2011

Thanks for letting us know that your class visits Wonderopolis every day, GEM! That makes us VERY happy! We hope you learn something new from each Wonder you visit! Keep doing those sit-ups...they are GREAT exercise! :-)

Tucker

Wonderopolis

Oct 19, 2011

We like to do jumping jacks, too, Tucker! They are an AWESOME way to exercise your heart and lungs, as well as your muscles! We like all kinds of exercise...anything that helps make our bodies stronger and healthier! :-)

Mrs. Johnson's third grade

Oct 19, 2011

Dear Wonderopolis,
Our class can't wait to go home and exercise today! Our homework tonight is going to be interviewing our families to see what is their favorite kind of exercise. We are going to make a graph. (Mrs. Johnson says, "Thank you for the homework idea!") We will let you know the results of our poll tomorrow.
We are also trying to think of ways to make our school better. We are thinking of forming an exercise club.
Now we have another question from Ziad. Today we skyped with Mrs. Johnson's daughter who lives in California (we live in Ohio) about how the pumpkin carving movie was made. You had it on your jack-o-lantern wonder last week. Molly told us about stop motion video. Ziad is wondering how Skype works that we could see Molly and talk to her from Ohio.
That's all for now!
Mrs. Johnson's third grade class

Wonderopolis

Oct 19, 2011

WOW! What a GREAT comment, Mrs. Johnson's third grade! We can't wait to hear about the results of your exercise poll! We WONDER what everyone's favorite way to exercise will be? We also think an exercise club would be an AMAZING thing! We are super proud of you all for thinking of ways to make your school better and for inspiring other students and teachers to exercise with you! :-)
You have given us some really good ideas for future Wonders of the Day...thank you! We really like Ziad's question about Skype, as well as learning more about stop-motion photography! You guys are AWESOME! :-)

Mr. Fines

Wonderopolis

Oct 19, 2011

Thank you for your SUPER DUPER comment today, Mr. Fines! We are proud of you and your students for exercising today! We know you exercise your minds in kindergarten every day, but exercising your bodies is important, too! Way to go! :-)

cole sundheimer

Wonderopolis

Oct 19, 2011

Hi, Cole! If you are visiting Wonderopolis at school, your school or school district might have a special video-blocking filter in place that keeps you from playing the video. The blocker is a way to help keep students from visiting bad websites or seeing videos on other websites that might not be good for them to see. Unfortunately, it keeps students from seeing the Wonderopolis videos, too. You might want to check with your teacher or computer lab adult to see if your school has the video filter in place.

Wonderopolis

Oct 19, 2011

We know other Wonder Friends who enjoy ACTIVE games on the Wii, Mrs. Morales’ second graders! There are so many different sports to participate in on the Wii, like dancing, yoga, running and kickboxing! Video game exercising can help keep us physically fit when the weather is bad outside (we just have to make sure we stay ACTIVE while we enjoy the games)! We like getting OUTSIDE for exercise the best, though, and REALLY enjoy participating in the same exercises you guys do! :-)

Wonderopolis

Oct 19, 2011

Riding bikes is a GREAT way to exercise, East Jarvis Second Grade! Your body gets a work out AND your eyes do, too! You get to SEE all the cool things in the world as you pedal by! Thank you for visiting today's Happy Healthy Habits Wonder of the Day®! :-)